So, unlike most Canadians (I’m assuming), my friends and I decided to spend Canada Day in the United States. Truth be told, we didn’t specifically set out to abandon our lovely country on its grand day of celebration. It just kind of worked out that way. After driving down to Portland, Oregon for a five day adventure, we decided to head up to Seattle to pay the lovely oceanside city a quick visit on our trek home.

We only had the evening to spend there, so I sought some dining advice from my friend Linda. She made a few suggestions and we finally decided on Brave Horse Tavern as the place we would go. I am a sucker for pretzels and microbrews, and this establishment was full of both, so it appeared to be a no-brainer. It also boasted a few shuffleboards to play on while you enjoyed your beer and dinner. How sweet is that?

The tavern had a nice, open kitchen with a big wood-burning oven and basket of freshly baked pretzels that probably weighed more than me. Granted, I’m sure I gained a few pounds on this road trip, so perhaps not!

Baked in the hearth, the huge pretzels could come with seven different possible sides. I started off with two pretzels and three dips: pimento cheddar, sour cream and crispy onion and smoked peanut butter with bacon. The peanut butter with crumbled bacon was by far my favourite. Regardless of what dip I was using, I added some generous amounts of hot mustard as well. Which, actually wasn’t very hot, but tasty nonetheless.

Clearly, unaware of how full I would be after two huge pretzels, I decided to order a burger as well.

A ground chuck patty came nicely grilled on a bed of a bit too much iceberg lettuce (as you can probably note from the photo), in a soft bun (baked by another Tom Douglas establishment just down the road) with caramelized onions, pickles, and a house-made barbecue sauce.

I especially liked the smoke of the barbecue sauce and the briny pickles. I would say they were comparable in deliciousness to the ones I indulge in too often in Calgary at Charcut! Overall a great burger indeed!

After that, I was happily full, so my friend and I finished up our beers and headed back to the hotel for the evening. On the walk home, we bumped into a giant pink florescent elephant who wished us ‘Good night!’ as well. How lovely. Yet another reason why I always love visiting Seattle!